Saturday, May 20, 2017

Danny & The Darleans Bug Out & Shows 666, 667, 668


Bug Out is the second full-length album by Detroit’s Danny & The Darleans. This band features Danny Kroha, who has played with The Gories, Demolition Doll Rods and many others, drummer Richie Wohlfeil who has made a name for himself playing with the Detroit Cobras and numerous other Michigan related bands, and bassist Colleen Burke. Burke previously played keyboards with the Chicago art punk band We Ragazzi and is currently playing bass with another Detroit band, Outrageous Cherry. This line-up of musicians have their share of experience with notable acts, but when together as Danny & The Darleans they project a gritty garage sound influenced by garage music from the 60s, but sounding like something completely their own. It has its own beat, its own vibe and its own attack.

The first track on Bug Out is the song entitled “Bug Out Bag”. The song attacks with fuzzy bass, hard hitting drum grooves, and stop and start guitar riffs. The term “bug out bag” is something from survivalist culture. It is a bag that contains only the essentials for survival in case of a sudden disaster. As the guitar descends from verse, to chorus and into its sneaky razor sharp solo, Kroha sings of a character grabbing only the essentials as he heads for the hills and away from his “scene” that seems to have abandoned him. As he escapes or “bugs out”, for something better, he realizes that he will eventually have to return. “I’m Right Here” swelters with a fuzzy, almost blues urgency, “Outta May Way” with its ringing guitar chords and thrashy drumming features lyrics, such as, “In the heat of the morning/In the cold, cold night/I’m a black panther roaming/And I’m ready to strike”. This song oozes with intensity and determination as the album slows down for the song “Girl”. Originally by The Keggs, Danny & The Darleans take this song and give it added bravado and groove. Kroha sings with a potent cocktail of desperation, hopefulness and urgency, as the song wraps around a tale of a love gone wrong that was supposed to be meant to be.

“Let’s Stomp” attacks with Burke’s dominating bass, handclaps, tambourines catchy drums and other danceable grooves with a proto-punk vibe. Following an R&B rave up version of “Leaving Here”, “Who Dat?:” demonstrates the in the pocket drumming ability of Richie Wohlfeil in a tale of paranoia with a Who inspired fury. “Soul On Ice” is a hard hitting garage number featuring a fiery attack with whirlwind drumming, rolling basslines and slashing guitar chords. With lyrics, such as ,“You put me in a cage/That only fuelled my rage” and “You got my soul/You got my soul on Ice”, the song deals with an oppression, a suspension of high spirits and the desire to overcome it and break free. “Dr. Finger” is a slow bass and drum driven track complete with organ and reverb drenched guitars. Lyrics such as “Dr. Finger/Give me pills” and “I can’t sleep/I need my pills” the song tells the story of a character dependent on pills, addiction and despair. “Wild About My Lovin’” is a song that is just as raucous as its title, featuring word play, howls, guitar solos and a grittiness to it.

The album ends with a version of “Little Black Egg”, a song originally by The Nightcrawlers from Daytona Beach, Florida. Originally released in 1965, the song tells a thinly veiled, yet bizarre fairy tale of what could be several meanings, yet in the context of this album, the song, played at a slightly slower pace, seems to be a victory in survival. Throughout the twelve tracks found on Bug Out, each song in one way or another is a tale of survival, whether overcoming a certain hardship or just moving forward in some fashion. With “Little Black Egg” at the end of this album, we learn that the characters who have been woven throughout these songs are not discarding what they went through, but they are keeping these experiences tucked away in the back of their mind as they escape for something new and better through perseverance. The term “bug out” means to escape or to do something without abandon. That can be found in many forms throughout this album. Bug Out is a musical bag filled with twelve songs, no more or no less. With Bug Out, Danny & The Darleans unleash an album that resonates with sophistication and gritty realism while instilling a bug out state of mind.



Playlist for Show # 666 (Originally Aired On May 6th, 2017:  Danny & The Darleans, Guided By Voices, Beastie Boys & The Rolling Stones):

1. Teenage Head - You’re Tearing Me Apart (Single Version)
2. Young Canadians - Where Are You
3. CLIFFS - Portland To Vermont
4. Sunshine & The Rain - I’m Not Your Girl
5. Soft Serve - Pats Pub Open Blues Jam
6. Mac DeMarco – A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
7. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy – I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall
8. Daniel Romano – When I Learned Your Name
9. Courtneys – Iron Deficiency
10. Perfume Genius – Slip Away
11. Lychi - Married
12. Guided By Voices - Glad Girls
13. Guided By Voices - Packing the Deadzone
14. Guided By Voices - Overloaded
15. Bobby Bare Jr. - Strange Bird
16. The Pogues - Gentleman Soldier
17. Craig Brown Band - Overthinking
18. Wire - I Should Have Known Better
19. Beastie Boys - Lee Majors Come Again
19. Sprinters - Don’t Care
20. The Smiths - These Things Take Time
21. Buzzcocks - Friends of Mine
22. Undertones - Here Comes The Summer
23. The Fleshtones - Rick Wakeman’s Cape
24. Checkerlads - Baby Send For Me
25. The Libertines - I Get Along
26. Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen
27. The Rolling Stones - Andrew's Blues
28. The Rolling Stones - No Expectations (Alternate Version)
29. Danny & The Darleans - Bug Out Bag
30. Danny & The Darleans - Little Black Egg


To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for May 6.


Playlist for Show # 667 (Repeat of episode 605:  Fire Engines, Bob Dylan, Shotgun Jimme & Them):

1. Fire Engines - Discord
2. Walrus - Fur Skin Coat
3. The Burning Hell - Nostalgia
4. Simply Saucer - Dance The Mutation
5. White Lung - Dead Weight
6. Supermoon - Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves
7. Frankie Cosmos - Sinclair
8. Car Seat Headrest - Fill In The Blank
9. Adriean Teacher And The Subs - Terminal City
10. Outrageous Cherry - Sign Of The Times
11. Shotgun Jimmie - Province To Province
12. John Lennon - Crippled Inside
13. Bob Dylan - As I Went Out One Morning
14. Bob Dylan - Melancholy Mood
15. Bob Dylan - That Old Black Magic
16. The Velvet Underground - Coney Island Steeplechase
17. The Modern Lovers - She’s Cracked
18. By Divine Right - Que Paso?
19. Radiohead - Identikit
20. John Cale - Barracuda
21. Leonard Cohen - Tonight Will Be Fine
22. Dead Ghosts - That Old Feeling
23. Them - Mystic Eyes
24. Them - Gloria (Demo)
25. Them - Here Comes The Night (Take 2)


To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for May 13.


Playlist for Show # 668 (Repeat of episode 643: The music of Skip Spence):

1. Moby Grape - Indifference (Live) (Live (Historic Live Moby Grape Performances 1966-1969 - 2009)
2. Jefferson Airplane - Blues From An Airplane (Jefferson Airplane Takes Off - 1966)
3. Skip Spence - Books Of Moses (Oar - 1969)
4. Skip Spence - After Gene Autry (Demo For Columbia Records) (After Gene Autry/Motorcycle Irene - 2009)
5. Moby Grape - Skip's Song (Demo) (The Place and The Time - 2009)
6. Moby Grape - Omaha (Moby Grape - 1967)
7. Mudnoney - War In Peace (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
8. Outrageous Cherry - Keep Everything Under Your Hat (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
9. Moby Grape - Motorcycle Irene (Wow - 1968)
10. Skip Spence - Doodle (Oar Outtake) (Oar - 1969)
11. Skip Spence - Lawrence of Euphoria (Oar - 1969)
12. Skip Spence - Cripple Creek (Oar - 1969)
13. Skip Spence - All Come To Meet Her (Oar - 1969)
14. Skip Spence - Little Hands (Oar - 1969)
15. Skip Spence - Margaret - Tiger Rug (Oar - 1969)
16. Tom Waits - Books Of Moses (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
17. Beck - Halo of Gold (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
18. Greg Dulli - Dixie Peach Promenade (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
19. Mark Lanegan - Cripple Creek (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
20. Jefferson Airplane - It's No Secret (Jefferson Airplane Takes Off - 1966)
21. Moby Grape - The Lake (Grape Jam - 1968)
22. Moby Grape - Funky-Tunk (Wow - 1968)
23. Skip Spence - Land of the Sun (More Oar: A Tribute - 1999)
24. Skip Spence - War In Peace (Oar - 1969)


To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for May 20.